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Steve Carell is no stranger to memorable on-screen brawls, having showcased his comedic prowess in films like Anchorman and Crazy, Stupid, Love, as well as TV series such as The Office and The Patient. Now, he adds another hilarious tussle to his repertoire, this time featuring a bedroom showdown with Phil Dunster.
In the debut episode of the new HBO comedy Rooster, created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, Carell plays renowned author Greg Russo. Greg visits Ludlow College to look after his daughter Katie, portrayed by Charly Clive. The plot thickens when Katie’s husband, Archie—played by Phil Dunster—has an affair with a graduate student, Sunny (Lauren Tsai). After a heated confrontation and an accidental house fire started by Katie, the second episode, “Trousers,” escalates the family drama into a physical altercation.
The episode kicks off with Katie landing a punch on Archie, marking him with a black eye. The situation intensifies when Greg finds out Archie has impregnated Sunny. Enraged, Greg barges into Archie’s hotel room in the middle of a virtual interview about Russian sanctions on BBC News. Armed with a ladle, he delivers a live broadcast beatdown to a trouserless Archie, whose pants had suffered a coffee spill.
Charging into the room, Greg yells, “YOU GOT HER PREGNANT?!” before tackling Archie to the floor. As Archie’s laptop captures the chaos, the two men struggle over the ladle. Greg gains the upper hand, and Archie attempts to flee by crawling onto the bed, but Greg’s swift ladle strikes leave Archie defeated and the bed frame in splinters.
Discussing the scene with DECIDER, Phil Dunster recounted the unexpected hilarity of the bed collapse. “The funny thing was that the bed wasn’t supposed to break,” Dunster shared during a Zoom interview. “That was a very, very happy accident.”
“The funny thing was that the bed wasn’t supposed to break. That was a very, very happy accident.”
Phil Dunster, Rooster
When the men take their tumble back to the floor to wrestle, Greg’s face uncomfortably lands between Archie’s legs. Having his bottom so exposed for Carell and viewers was also unexpected for Dunster, but he embraced the outcome. “There was a lot more bottom on show than I had originally anticipated,” the Rooster star reflected. “But that’s no denigration of the experience, and it probably added to it, if anything.”
In a delightfully juvenile twist that proves just how inexperienced the two men are at fighting, the scene ends with a good old fashioned slap battle. Looking back at his experience filming the heavily physical fight with Carell, Dunster praised Rooster‘s leading man for giving his all on screen.
“I just really, really loved how involved and up for it Steve was,” Dunster said. “A theme for all of us with him was that he’s always curious from an actor to actor perspective. [He’ll say] ‘That was great. That was really good. OK, I’m going to do this and that. And, I saw you do that, and let’s try this. How about if I go around here?’ He’s such a comedian’s comedian, and an actor’s actor. He’s an artist. A man of the people. And I think it’s wonderful that he wouldn’t let an opportunity like that, for fun, silliness, and hijinks pass by.”
Rest assured, Rooster has plenty more fun, silliness, and hijinks from Carell and cast on the way. So don’t miss a moment of the hilarious debut season.
New episodes of Rooster premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.